I have always felt drawn to the rebels, the people who blaze trails and forge new pathways towards freedom. I am drawn to their stories like a moth to the flame. Stories hold the power to transport us to another time and space. They offer new ways of understanding the world and help us to imagine our place in it. If our very existence can be an act of rebellion I often wonder if the sharing of our stories can somehow set us free?
I have been on a personal quest for freedom for as long as I can remember – always curious and always asking why. I have searched for freedom in many places from Indian ashrams to Arctic lighthouses. Sometimes we look outside for what really lives inside of us. If we are lucky we will find cues and clues along the way that eventually lead us home. Reading, listening, writing and sharing stories helped me to understand my own search for meaning.
Maya Angelou writes in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings “There is no greater agony then bearing an untold story inside of you”. Stories are the heart of who we are as human beings. Stories allow us to construct meaning and make sense of our lives. Stories hold a code that can unlock our personal and our collective freedom. The much-loved American mythologist Joseph Campbell calls this The Hero’s Journey – “the Story behind the story”.
So are stories a vital part of our genetic inheritance? Author Lisa Cron has explored the science behind storytelling revealing that as human beings we are “wired for story, it is crucial for our evolution, it is a biological, chemical and a survival mechanism. We turn to story to navigate reality…”
The Trailblazery came about from an intention to gather a collection of provocative and inspiring narratives from people who are nudging humanity forward one story at a time. We are passionate about creating and curating experiences that amplify the power of these stories to shape our lives.
The word curate comes from the Latin word cura meaning to take care of and to attend to souls. Over the past few years my curatorial dream has been to take people on a journey exploring freedom and the resilience of the human spirit. The Freedom Project became that dream, bringing together 16 storytellers, 5 musicians, a choir, a sacred space, prison and a live audience. Together we set out on an unusual expedition – to find out what freedom means as human beings living in extreme times.
This project was designed as a modern day call to adventure. We invited people to consider freedom from many perspectives. Stories weave patterns that map out different constellations of connection. Witnessing stories can rewire our thinking and encourage us to create new relationships with ourselves and with each other. We can feel new worlds emerging while simultaneously experiencing the world we hold close inside. We can choose which world we want to belong to and maybe cross the threshold. The archetypal quest begins….
I have always felt a call to adventure with Kilmainham Gaol. The site is powerful and resonant – a vessel teaming with the stories of over 150,000 men, women and children who were held captive there between 1795 and 1924. The space has a magnetic force that will not let you go. Many artists and thinkers have been drawn to the political and social history that coexists within the magnificent panopticon architecture of the “Irish Bastille”. Pat Cooke the former Director of Kilmainham Gaol said, “There can be few places, therefore, that more intensely crystallize the forces that shaped modern Irish nationalism than Kilmainham Gaol.” This national monument is a powerful symbol of our cultural legacy and was the perfect home for Saoirse – the grand finale of The Freedom Project, hosted on Easter Monday, 101 years after the Easter Rising of 1916.
Freedom is a burning issue on the world stage right now as we strive to understand the complexity of the times we live in. Our collective wounds are exposed and the core human issues of cultural identity; gender, race and religion all vie for attention in the specter of populism, polarization and the rising power of a post –truth society.
So, what does the future hold for us? What is driving our human race? What does it really mean to be free? How do we make sense of everything? And what role does story have to play in this great unfolding? Writer Neil Gaiman observes the “the gulf that exists between us as people is that when we look at each other we might see faces, skin color, gender, race, or attitudes, but we don’t see, we can’t see, the stories.”
In times like this we need stories that can be seen and heard, experienced and shared. We need stories that nourish us, connect us and transport us to new realms so that we can imagine what freedom feels like. Our human challenge is to fully participate in these new realms so that we can co-create a future there, together.
The Freedom Project invited a host of artists, musicians, performers, activists and thinkers to come together to decode the mystery at the heart of human (r) evolution. These trailblazers are pioneers willing to share their stories of sovereignty sing their songs of freedom and ultimately reveal what lies beneath our shared human being ness.
I know I have crossed some kind of personal threshold in making this project, I hope it serves you as a companion on your own journey towards freedom. Check out these wonderful stories in the below videos.
The Freedom Project took place on Easter Monday at Newman University Church and Kilmainham Gaol and featured
Susie Q {Musician Performer}, Ruairi McKiernan {Social Innovator, Campaigner}, Manchán Magan {author, journalist} Ruth Meehan {Writer, Filmmaker}, Noeline Kavanagh, {Artistic Director Macnas} Ivor Brown {Psychiatrist, Author, Meditator} Hestor O’Connor {Meditation Facilitator}, Margie Jean Lewis { Musician Performer}, Colm O’Gorman {Amnesty International Ireland} Sunny Jacobs {Human Rights Activist}, Raoul Martinez {Philosopher, Artist, Author and filmmaker- Creating Freedom}, Lynne Ruane {Educational Activist and Independent Politician} Ailbhe Smyth {Feminist & Activist}, Mary Kate O’ Flannagan {Award Winning Writer, Grand Slam Champion storyteller of the Moth}, Razan Ibraheen {Syrian Journalist, Irish Tatler International Woman of the Year} Radie Peat {Musician Performer} Eric Mingus {Musician Performer} Tonnta Music Ensemble.
SAOIRSE was presented by Trailblaze with the kind support of Catapult, Creative Ireland, OPW + Dublin City Council
